Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 308

Review: CHASE: THE SECRET BILLIONAIRE SOCIETY by Nancy Pennick

Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez
In a drunken haze during their thirtieth birthday celebration, the Secret Billionaire Society swore off their partying ways. They wanted to give back to society, and Mission Impossible became their motto. They just needed someone who would give the assignments. Enter the mysterious Mr. Smith.
Serious Chase Young is chosen first by this ominous, never seen Smith and goes from billionaire to pilot for a small airline in a day. Unable to use money to fix the problem, he’s tasked to dig deeper into the airline’s problems. Chase never expects to meet Grace Edison, the owner’s daughter, and immediately wants her in his life. Undercover, Chase can’t tell Grace the truth. Never one to back down, he accepts the challenge ahead of him, win Grace and save her father’s company.

Available on Amazon



My review: "The man behind the mirror. We’d never met him. We didn’t know what he looked like. Yet, we’d agreed to put our lives in his hands and trust him. We only knew his name—Mr. Smith. He was now in charge of us, the Secret Billionaire Society." (5)


Grace Edison was struggling to keep her father's airline in business. Then, in walked Chase, (one of the secret billionaires) who was now the new pilot for the airline. Although she knew they couldn't afford o hire a new pilot, she still couldn't shake how devastatingly handsome Chase was.


The first assignment in this series was given to Chase, who figured he could just invest some money to help the airline. But Mr. Smith wasn't looking for a "quick fix;" he wanted them to go deeper. Perhaps the airline wasn't failing because of sales and marketing. Could someone be skimming money instead?


 “If a company has been in the black for several years in a row, continues to fill their planes to almost capacity daily, negotiates for the best fuel prices and even has a separate account for maintenance costs, why are they in the red?” (16)


Even though she had her suspicions about the mysterious man, Grace soon enlists Chase's help in trying to figure it all out. Meanwhile, the two are taken by the attraction and chemistry.


The series is a "Mission: Impossible" for billionaires. I thought the premise was interesting. There was a certain allure behind this secret society that wanted to make the world right. Drama, mystery, and love are in the air in this complex tale of a floundering airline. Will it fly...or will it all go down? This book had elements that I liked―secrets, spies, suspense, and a smoldering billionaire―but I have to say that I wasn't that captivated by the story. The romance was good, but some of the details concerning the family drama and airline problems were a little too complicated, which wore on me. There were also a few too many characters that really didn't help the story much. I think it would've been better with a little more simplicity and more focus on the two characters. But I think this book has a decent place in romance.


My rating: 3 stars


---Excerpt---

Grace Edison sat behind her desk at Falcon Airlines shuffling the papers in front of her. She didn’t want to look at last month’s numbers which had been consistently falling since the beginning of the year. Her father built the airline, and damn her brothers, she was determined it would still succeed. They could care less if they inherited the airline or took it over one day after their dad worked hard to achieve his dream. Her older siblings flew for Falcon but knew they could get jobs anywhere, anytime at more pay.
Someone cleared their throat at her open doorway, startling Grace. She fought for composure and looked away from her computer to see who’d come for a visit. The banker? He may be here to call in their loan. Breathe and smile. A flight attendant? She tried to solve their problems as quickly as possible and gave competitive pay, yet once a month someone seemed to find a better job. Game face.
“Oh.” Grace studied the man leaning against the doorway. She looked into his smoldering dark eyes, and if he used them the right way, they would cause her to slip right out of her clothes. He had brunette hair, carefully styled, short on the sides, swept back to one side on top. The close-trimmed beard caused her to internally shudder. Grace loved a man with a beard.
She stood and said, “What can I do to help you?”
The man walking toward her was an inch or two over six feet, causing her to tilt her head. “Hello,” he said in a charming voice and extended his hand in greeting. “My name is Chase … Garrett. I’m one of your new pilots.”
Grace shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not. We didn’t hire any new pilots.”
“This is Falcon Airlines, if I’m not mistaken. I was told to meet with Grace Edison, Vice President of Operations.” Chase slipped his phone from his pocket, flipped through a few screens and produced an email signed by her father, Paul Edison.
Grace bit into her bottom lip as she studied the screen. “Must be some kind of mistake.” She didn’t want to make eye contact again, throw away all common sense and hire him on the spot.
“Is he here?”
“Who?”
Chase lightly brushed her hand as he took his phone back causing a chill down her spine. “Paul Edison.” He pointed over his shoulder. “From the sign on the door, you’re Grace Edison, either his daughter or daughter-in-law.”
“Daughter.”
“If that’s your job position, he trusts you.”
“Are you questioning why I have the job, Mr. Garrett? Because I’m a woman or his daughter or both?” Grace felt a fire in her belly. Why did she always have to defend the right to her job?
“No, because you are so young.” Chase lifted his eyes, connecting to hers.
Grace thought she saw an apology in them somewhere, and the look made her stomach flip. “It’s fine. Happens all the time.” She clamped her mouth closed. Why did I say that? Too much information. I am not daddy’s little girl who couldn’t get a job. I have a business degree! Now he won’t take me seriously.
“Do I report to you for assignments?”
“What did you not understand, Mr. Garrett? You are not a pilot for Falcon Airlines. We did not hire you.”
“Please, call me Chase.”

Review: BEACH BUM BILLION-HEIRESS by Marika Ray

Sage wants to find a job on her own without the help of her rich daddy. To prove her initiative, her father assigns her to close a business deal in Southern California. She does that, she gets her trust fund.


“Would I follow my father’s wishes and bury all my hopes and dreams for the dangled carrots of riches? Or would I slam the door in his face and strike out on my own, leaving my family behind?” (5)


Jax was working hard to keep his dad’s beach shack afloat, especially after the woman he loved left him for money.


The plot was set: She needed to buy him out, but he refused to sell.


I thought this was a fun, carefree story. It’s a love story riding on the sun-kissed, breezy, sandy shores of lovely SoCal. It talked a little too much about the beach, although it was fitting since this is all part of the beach series, but it just made it sound almost superficial and cliché. As if Californians are all about the beach. But, still, I thought it was a pretty good read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: BETTER OFF DIVORCED by Marianne Hansen

Grace Harper wasn’t happy that she’d been divorced. But one man’s loss is another man’s gain. Now she was engaged to the most romantic and charming man in the world. Having to juggle a teaching career, motherhood, and a pending wedding was a lot, but she’d take it all in stride as long as she had the love of her life by her side.


Even though she managed to get over her ex-husband’s affair, Grace couldn’t help smiling when she finds out the same woman he cheated with was now leaving him for someone else. Still, it makes her wonder if her “perfect fiancé” could ever repeat the same infidelity.  


This is the witty and endearing story of a woman contending with a too-perfect fiancé, a narcissistic ex-husband, and three rowdy teenage sons. With all this male testosterone surrounding her, was it any wonder why she was BETTER OFF DIVORCED?


I thought this was a pretty good story with a strong lead character that most could relate to. There were a few lagging areas and I think that Grace questioned things a bit too often. Story focuses more on family drama and unresolved issues. It’s not as funny as I would’ve liked. But still it’s a decent read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: PART TIME PRINCESS by Pamela DuMond

A girl masquerading as a part-time princess.


Lucy is out-of-work and down on her luck when she takes a job playing the part of Lady Elizabeth to keep her prince at home interested. Suddenly, she was a princess-in-training, going through an Eliza Doolittle makeover.


I liked Lucy. She was tough and witty and ready to handle anything.  The twist is when this fake princess is caught between two dashing princes. The problem was that Lucy was secretly turned on by the wrong brother. Still, she had a job to do and, by god, she will stick with it.


In the midst of this journey, we encounter the ladies in waiting, which were annoying.


A light and airy novel. Story lagged considerably in the 2nd half. The two guys don’t really fight over Lucy (I was kinda hoping for one,) and there was no real danger of people figuring out who Lucy really was. The romance and drama were watered down. I was expecting more.


Overall, this was okay, but tapered off in the end.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: ONLY IN VEGAS by Lindsey Brookes

Angie is deemed an Ice Princess by her disgruntled ex. She’s just never been able to get a passion for a sexual relationship. In other words, she can’t get it up. So she aims to change that on a business trip to Vegas and she asks her best friend, Trey, to help her out. She wants him to teach her to be the sultry vixen to show her ex that she can be that wild cat in the bedroom.
The thing is that Trey doesn’t really get the chance to tutor her much before they instantly jump in the sack on the first night in Vegas. Suddenly, the two don’t get out of the bedroom.
The two want a fling while in Vegas, but how can it be a fling when the heart gets involved?
A quick, sultry romance that gives credence to the old saying: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
And, of course, there would have to be a wedding in Vegas. Gag and Barf!

My rating: 2 stars

Review:THE BILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Judy Angelo

Solie is having problems with her neighbor—the problem being that he was one hot muchacho. He was also annoying as hell with all the noise he made constantly with his dog, his friends, and his construction on the house. The annoying hot guy is actually a billionaire. Ransom was such a dumb name.


The whole thing was slow right from the start. It was mostly the two characters getting in each other’s faces a lot of the time. Gee, I could only hope their sex was more stimulating than this. But I didn’t get that far.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE BURDEN OF TRUST by Tabitha Young

Kate has just landed in New York. Although it’s been years, she still couldn’t help the pain she felt whenever she saw a mother and child on the street. “It should have been hers, not this emptiness she was left with.” (4)
Right away, you’re touched with a fleeting empathy for Kate, who seems lonesome and lost. The last thing she ever would have expected was to meet Chris Cody, the handsome movie star. From that point on, the two embark on a journey that could very well end their hopeless misery.  
Although the writing was pretty good, I wasn’t really as captivated by the story as I thought I’d be. Kate and Chris are deep and endearing characters, but their story was a bit too complex, which exacerbated this lengthy and dry novel. I’m sure there’s an inspiring message concerning life, love, and friendships; however, I just couldn’t get into it.
My rating: 2 stars

Review: LOVE-LINES by Sheri Langer

Fordham Price: divorced, single, and mother. Working at a small publisher and having to raise a 10-year old daughter doesn’t leave her much time for the dating world.
This certainly sounded like your typical chick-lit with the implication of witty humor and harebrained dating scenarios; however, I failed to get into any of it. There was considerable lag, and I wasn’t too engrossed in the characters’ lives. I expected to laugh, cry, or find some type of enjoyment, but the reading was just rather dull. It just didn’t interest me.
My rating: 2 stars

Review: ONIONS: HITTING THE HIGH NOTES by Cy Young

 Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez Onions has just been sent to his 16th foster home, Despondent, he steals the purse of Sandrine, a retired circus performer. Instead of turning him in to the police, Sandrine enlists the boy in her fight against City Hall. In the process, Onions learns the importance of reading, having a worthwhile life-goal, and how to play the trumpet, his ultimate redemption. Sandrine is a strong role-model for pre-teens through 18-year-olds as she helps Charles Wesley Onions find meaning in life. A tragic event leads to the powerful, uplifting, and inspiring ending. Finally, Onions is a modern-day Holden Caulfield .. without the swearing.
Available on Amazon

Review: "Charles Wesley Onions hated everything. He hated his father for dying...and leaving him alone with his alcoholic mother. He hated his mother for sending him off to a foster home. He hated...the 15 other foster parents who abused him and made him work before and after school. But most of all, [Onions] hated himself." (LOC 72)


The boy had a wild-eyed charm and witty naiveté. He was a boy that was into comic books, because good always triumphed over evil. Like the heroes he reads about, he was a young fighter, but he had a firm grasp of reality.


Onions then develops a mentorship with Sandrine, a former circus performer, who opens up his world to literature, music, knowledge, and morality.  "Unenlightened, uninformed people usually haven't learned to discipline their minds." (65) Sandrine teaches the boy a simple equation to life: Read to gain knowledge, then learn to store the knowledge and use it when the time comes. After all, the mind is a precious thing, to fill with great ideas and beautiful thoughts. "You can be a bum or a great man." (68)


I liked the "knowledge is power" mantra and how it pushed Onions to do more for himself. It's definitely a great message for kids. The historical and dates facts were daunting at times and didn't quite correlate with the main coming-of-age tale that I became so inspiring. In fact, these segments almost deviated from the story of Onions, especially when the focus turned on the mayor and the councilman. I understood that the boy got involved in the battle of politics, but it just seemed to tarnish the flourishing development of the young boy. I think it made it too serious and not that fitting for a middle-grade audience.  


I though the book had a fun-looking cover. It blended a child-like quality with a precocious sense of adventure, however, I'm not sure if it was quite fitting for the academic and political views within the story.


All in all, this was a nice story of a poor boy that grew his mind. I honestly would've taken out the political aspect and focused more on the learning development. But I think his story is a great testimony of what learning can do.

My rating: 3 stars

Review: TOBY TALES: THE MISERABLE MOVE by Susan Kinsey

10-year old Toby Perkins just moved to Washington, D.C. It was such a miserable move. Life in the new town was so boring! Then he meets Hailey.


Yeah, she seemed cool and easy to talk to, but there’s just no way he could see himself hanging out with her. After all, she was a girl. Boys and girls can’t be friends…could they?


The writing was okay and the pace was a little slow, but, overall, I thought this was a decent read for middle-grade readers. It definitely has life lesson of looking beyond the differences and accepting others. It relays the message that friendship can come in all formats. I think most kids would be able to relate.


My rating: 3 stars